The peak computer speed doubles each year and thus is given by a simple function of time. Specifically, S = 2^(Year-1984), in which S is the peak computer speed attained during each year, expressed in MIPS. -Wikipedia, Joy’s law (computing)
These are some highlights from a prescient talk by Bill Joy in February of 1991.
“It’s vintage wnj. When assessing wnj-speak, remember Eric Schmidt’s comment that Bill is almost always qualitatively right, but the time scale is sometimes wrong.” -David Hough
Needs a '1984' tag in the title.
Added. Thanks!
Thread from 2012: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4940918
and a bit from 2015: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10145982
Wow, an interview from Year 1 MIP!
Bill Joy’s Law: 2^(Year-1984) Million Instructions per Second
https://medium.com/@donhopkins/bill-joys-law-2-year-1984-mil...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy%27s_law_(computing)